Plea to play other difficulties than elite

When I log in with a HC character, I pretty much never see a game that is not in elite mode.. As a result, I play elite often with HC characters.

I feel like Elite mode games are too horror-story like; it can take dozens of hits to kill something in elite. I would avoid the setting entirely except for one thing: everyone else plays it. Personally I'm all for veteran. But any other difficulty will do.